47- FARTHEST NORTH 



" Wednesday, March 25th. There is the same dark 

 water-sky behind the promontory in the southwest, stretch- 

 ing thence westward ahiiost to the extreme west. It has 

 been there all throus^h this mild weather, with southwest- 

 erly wind, from the very beginning of the month. There 

 seems to be always open water there, for no sooner is 

 the sky overcast than the reflection of water appears in 

 that quarter. 



" Thursday, April 2d. As I awoke at about eight this 

 evening (our morning happened to fall in the evening 

 to-day), we heard an animal rustling about outside 

 and gnawing at something. We did not take much 

 notice of it, thinking it was a fox, busy as usual with 

 some meat up on the roof; and if it did seem to be 

 making rather more noise than we had of late been ac- 

 customed to hear from foxes, yet it was scarcely noise 

 enough to come from a bear. We did not take into 

 consideration that the snow was not so cold and crack- 

 ling now as it had been earlier in the winter. When 

 Johansen went out to read the thermometer, he saw 

 that it was a bear that had been there. It had gone 

 round the hut, but had evidently not liked all the bears' 

 carcasses, and had not ventured past them up to the wal- 

 rus blubber on the roof. At the opening of the passage 

 and the chimney it had sniffed hard, doubtless enjoying 



bers, inv'ariably set forth from land at certain times of the day towards the 

 open sea, and then at other times returned in unbroken lines up the ice- 

 bound fiords to their nest-rocks again. 



